Thursday, August 23, 2012

Workshop: ‘U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present’ by ROBERT KOEHLER

Workshop: ‘U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present’
by ROBERT KOEHLER on JUNE 6, 2012
in ROK-US ISSUES

The Women’s Global Solidarity Action Network (WGSAN) will be hosting a free workshop under the title “U.S. Military Camptown Prostitution in Korea: 1945-Present”. The workshop will be given by Professor Nah Young Lee.

The film screening free workshop will be on Saturday, June 9th from 2-5 at the Columban Mission Center. To get to the center, take line 4 to the Sungshin Women’s University Entrance stop. Go out exit 4 and a building with a traditional Korean roof (hanok) will be in front of you. Go into the building and up to the second floor. Please note the center is very close to exit 4, and not on the University’s campus.

For more information email: womens.global.solidarity@gmail.com

For the facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/419676074719114/

1 CactusMcHarris June 6, 2012 at 2:00 pm
2-5 p.m. – so that qualifies as a short time, eh?

3 R. Elgin June 6, 2012 at 4:17 pm
I only wonder just what this “workshop” is about or if this is something other than a workshop since the facebook page does not tell us. Is this a paper presentation, a whores-anonymous meeting, an inquisition or are they teaching how to run an American-style whorehouse?

When will the “workshop” be held for the local “spa” in my neighborhood?

4 Sperwer June 6, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Will they be giving equal time to the camptowns run by the ROK for its own troops?

5 Q June 6, 2012 at 5:13 pm
It would be worth to check out ‘Comfort Women: U.S. Military also Complicit’ from The Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland:

6 bballi bballi Paradise June 6, 2012 at 6:39 pm
@Q
It would also be worth checking out “comfort women: Korean style” by walking out of your Korean apartment, and reading the neon signs in every single neighbourhood in the entire country…..

7 DLBarch June 7, 2012 at 12:26 am
If anyone finds out what movie they’re showing, please pass it along.

And if anyone on MH winds up attending, I trust they will provide a full report. Despite the snark above, this is actually a worthy topic and one too often dismissed by those who should know better, and Prof. Lee Na-young is someone worth listening to.

DLB

8 CactusMcHarris June 7, 2012 at 2:16 am
#3,

A lot of those women were forced into prostitution – read what Gerry has had to say about what Korea outside the US bases was like in the 70s and 80s – he might be full of unmitigated callousness and Hanguk Hate, but he’s spot on about Korea then.

DLB @ #7,

If my comment came across to you as snark, my apologies. It was, I thought, more semi-funny jerk, and not meant to be snark.

9 DLBarch June 7, 2012 at 3:55 am
CMcH,

I do not consider your comments, here or elsewhere, as snark. In fact, there are only a handful of MH commentators whom I genuinely enjoy reading, and you are one of them.

For one thing, “Cactus McHarris” as to be one of the coolest names around. I put it right up there with River Phoenix. I only hope it’s your real name, ’cause if not, that THAT WOULD BE A DAMN SHAME.

For one thing, “Cactus McHarris” has to be one of the coolest names around.

Yeah, that name is kind of cool, but it is not very descriptive. I think “Kissass McHarris” would be more apt.

Cactus McHarris wrote (#8):

… he (Gerry Bevers) might be full of unmitigated callousness and Hanguk Hate, but he’s spot on about Korea then.

Why do you call me callous? Because I deal in facts and ask for proof when unsupported claims are made? Why do you say I hate Korea? Because I point out lies being told about Dokdo instead of going on and on about how great kimchee tastes? By the way, I am spot on about a lot more than just camptown prostitution in the 1970s.

If I were in Korea, I would probably attend this so-called “workshop” at Sungsin Women’s University to hear what Professor Lee has to say about camptown prostitution.

I wonder if she will mention the fact that military prostitutes were referred to as “comfort women” in Korea in the 1950s and into the 60s, something that many Koreans do not like to admit. I wonder if she will point out the similarities and differences between the Korean system and the Japanese system. I wonder if she will also mention that there were also “comfort women” for Korean soldiers.

When I was at Camp Humphreys in the late 1970s, there was one gate that led to the bars for the US military, and another gate, on the other side of the base, that led to bars for the Korean military. I was told that the US military was not allowed to go to the village outside that other gate. In fact, I was told that years before the heads of some black soldiers who had gone into that village had been hung on the perimeter fence near that gate and that since then the US military were not allowed to go there. True or not, that is what I heard.

I hope I am not being too callous or seen as hateful for relating the above story.

12 bumfromkorea June 7, 2012 at 7:46 am
I was just about to say that Gbevers was probably popping a boner somewhere in Texas over this.

13 gbevers June 7, 2012 at 7:57 am
Bumfromkorea wrote (#13):

I was just about to say that Gbevers was probably popping a boner somewhere in Texas over this.

No, I think you probably have been waiting a day or two for my comment, just itching to post your inane comment. The only thing that surprises me is that you beat Q to the punch.

14 bumfromkorea June 7, 2012 at 8:08 am
It was very tedious sitting in front of my laptop, ignoring my academic and personal life, just to wait for you to post something. What took you so long?

15 jkitchstk June 7, 2012 at 9:07 am
# 13,
“KissAss” hehehe. Do you have a link on more history of prostitution/Korea/ROK military or when it began in Korea so that if I go I can dispute any possible claim made that the U.S. brought it to Korea?

16 commander June 7, 2012 at 9:38 am
In fact, I was told that years before the heads of some black soldiers who had gone into that village had been hung on the perimeter fence near that gate and that since then the US military were not allowed to go there. True or not, that is what I heard.

That is some sensational shit beavers. Any sightings of burning crosses or guys riding around in pointy white hoods? But seriously, I doubt the US military would have tolerated what you described if it actually did happen.

17 setnaffa June 7, 2012 at 9:45 am
It sure is a shame that the US introduced prostitution to Korea…

18 robert neff June 7, 2012 at 9:57 am
#16 Commander

I also served at Humphreys and will confirm that the incident Mr. Bevers describes is part of the local lore of the area. Whether or not it actually happened, I have no idea. But I do remember that one gate was off-limits to American military. Was it used only by the ROK AF – not sure.

As for the introduction of prostitution into Korea – hmmm…, I believe Prof. Lankov and I have both written about that on more than one occasion. I do find it amusing that one of the earliest Western women to visit Chemulpo (Jemulpo) was a working girl (English – I believe) from Shanghai.

19 setnaffa June 7, 2012 at 10:29 am
It is well known by following certain regular posters here and at ROKDROP that the only things bad about Korea are from America… I imagine KIMSOFT would give further examples like the NFL story if only they had not been shut down…

And yes, I’m being sarcastic. In case any of you were confused. There have been willing and unwilling “camp followers” since there have been armies. If you’re not willing to actually clean up the mess, don’t fling poo.

These “concerned citizens” spend a lot of time and effort drumming up xenophobic rage and very little time actually helping anyone but themselves and their masters in Moscow, Beijung, Tehran, and Pyongyang….

20 bulgasari June 7, 2012 at 10:29 am
@11 Actually, I was thinking that I’d found newspaper reports as late as 1976 describing camptown prostitutes as ‘comfort women,’ and just decided to search on Naver’s news archive (which has 3-4 newspapers archived) and found that there were 10-20 articles a year through even the 80s to 1989 that referred to them as 위안부 or 미군위안부. After that the current meaning as a WWII Japanese comfort woman displaced the former meaning.

Don’t know much about Camp Humphreys back in the day, but I did 2 posts on the 1971 Anjung-ri riot last year, and recently a black soldier who served there just before the riot left a comment – it might be of interest.

21 gbevers June 7, 2012 at 10:43 am
jkitchstk wrote (#15):

The Donga Ilbo has hundreds and hundreds of articles on prostitution dating back to 1920. One 1924 article, for example, talks about police in Pyeongyang arresting dozens of man for selling women from as far away as Daegu and Jinju. I remember reading an article from the 1920s talking about there being a prostitute in almost every other doorway. In other words, there were a lot of prostitutes in Korea before the Americans came.

I may take the time to translate some of the those articles someday.

22 commander June 7, 2012 at 11:19 am
Just what the hell are you guys arguing about here anyway? Don’t they say that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession? Isn’t the Korean civilization supposed to be 5,000 years old? There you have your answer of how long there have been prostitutes in Korea.

23 CactusMcHarris June 7, 2012 at 11:39 am
#11,

Gerry,

Call me what you will, but you should sing my praises. Here I am trying to raise you out of your myopic swamp, and you continue to wallow in your self-imposed sty of The Hate. I used to feel sorry for you, but not anymore. As I said, your comments bear out my suggestion to you of your Hanguk Hate – I think that’s what’s called prima facie evidence.

And as far as KissAss? Cap’n Dokdo can’t do better than that?

24 CactusMcHarris June 7, 2012 at 11:46 am
#9 David,

I wish I could tell you that that’s true, but only partially. And thank you for the props.

Not just a damn shame, but a low-down dirty one, too.

And the same goes for you, too.

Jeff

25 setnaffa June 7, 2012 at 12:13 pm
#20, it’s difficult to accept anonymous comments on the internet as valid sources. Remember all of the stuff folks “remembered” about No Gun Ri that wasn’t so? And the more recent Agent Orange schtick?

Now, if the guy identified himself more than just adding to a blog via a free account…

26 Skydiver June 7, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Sorry I missed out on all the fuss this morning. I’m new here, the article caught my attention.
Korea 67/68, Yongjugol. Yep, a whole year+ spent around the Korean “Capital of Prostitution’. And from some articles I recently read, it still is!
Never heard the term ‘Comfort Girls’. We didn’t have brothels, we had clubs, bars actually, where you could drink, dance and pick the girl you wanted and pay mama-san for her.
And if you wanted, you found an independent and paid her directly. No affiliation to clubs, bars or mama-sans, she worked for herself and had her own place.
These people were ‘dirt poor’! The area had no paved roads, no running water and outhouses. They did what they had to do to make a few bucks to put food on the table. The girls were mostly orphans who worked for a mama-san or girls from a family who could not afford to keep her. Little or no education and no work experience of any kind.
The GI’s had their bars, the KATUSA’s had theirs, the ROKA had their own villes and clubs. And lets not forget the Turks. The 16th Turkish Company was attached to the 2nd Inf Div and was the last full company size Turkish unit in Korea. They departed in 1965, but, they too had their own ville for pleasure seeking.
So whats this workhouse about? Bashing America for the widespread problem of prostitution. Why else would they fail to mention anything else in the title. THEY NEVER DO! They ignore any association of prostitution and the ROKA. And always blame it on us and ‘businessmen’.
There’s my 2 cents!

27 gbevers June 7, 2012 at 12:44 pm
CactusMcHarris wrote (#23):

Call me what you will, but you should sing my praises. Here I am trying to raise you out of your myopic swamp, and you continue to wallow in your self-imposed sty of The Hate. I used to feel sorry for you, but not anymore. As I said, your comments bear out my suggestion to you of your Hanguk Hate – I think that’s what’s called prima facie evidence.

I have posted something that, finally, you have some direct knowledge of–camptown prostitution–and you simply acknowledged what I wrote to be true. How is that singing my praises? Do you consider what I wrote about camptown prostitution to be an example of “Hankuk Hate”? If you do, do you also hate Korea since you confirmed what I wrote to be true?

I think what you consider to be “Hankuk Hate” writing is writing on a topic you know little or nothing about, for example, Dokdo.

Just because I do not kiss Korean ass while shallowing their lies about Dokdo and other historical issues does not mean I hate Korea. If I hated Korea, wouldn’t I be complaining about the country, the people, the customs, the language, the food, and the transportation? How often do I complain about any of that?

What I do not like about Korea is her rewriting of history and her hypocritical attacks on Japan. That is what I usually focus on when I write about Korea because I do not like being lied to. However, I also write about the Korean language, usually in glowing terms.

Besides, I don’t understand why you are so angry. I said the name “Cactus McHarris” sounded kind of cool.

28 R. Elgin June 7, 2012 at 2:40 pm
. . . So whats this work(shop) about? Bashing America for the widespread problem of prostitution. Why else would they fail to mention anything else in the title. THEY NEVER DO! They ignore any association of prostitution and the ROKA. And always blame it on us and ‘businessmen’.

I would wager 100,000 won that these politically-motivated feminists will not do anything for the women who have to pay back a loan to a local gang (Bongcheon Gang, for example) and are working off that loan through a local “spa” by selling their body. If they had an modicum of decency and honesty, they would engage their community and lawmakers about this problem and do some good but, instead, it is so much easier to pick an easy topic and act out some pseudo-intellectual fantasy.

There are no words in any language to describe my contempt for such.

29 Q June 7, 2012 at 7:57 pm
US military did not introduced prostitution in Korea. I’d say they simply frequented what was arranged and let the system run to “prevent the spead of venereal disease” which was proven to be ineffective (I’d assume the Hankuk Hater had a real good one):

By that time, Tanaka says, more than a quarter of all American GIs in the occupation forces [in Japan] had a sexually transmitted disease.

I’d like to repeat that the euphamistic word ‘comfort women’ could not say much about difference between comfort stations of Japanese military and those of U.S. or Korean military. The conditions and degree of abuse could not be equated between them.

30 gbevers June 7, 2012 at 9:34 pm
Q wrote (#29):

US military did not introduced prostitution in Korea. I’d say they simply frequented what was arranged and let the system run to “prevent the spead of venereal disease”

Wow! To prevent the spead of venereal disease was also one of the reasons the Japanese gave for setting up their comfort woman system. They also did it to help prevent rape.

One difference between the Japanese system and the Korean was that the Korean system was also run to earn foreign currency.

31 hamel June 7, 2012 at 10:19 pm
Off topic:

Gbevers uttered:

If I hated Korea, wouldn’t I be complaining about the country, the people, the customs, the language, the food, and the transportation? How often do I complain about any of that?

[...]

However, I also write about the Korean language, usually in glowing terms.

Errrm. If Robert’s search machine on this blog was functional, I’d go back and pull out some threads just from the last 6 months in which you bitterly opined about Koreans “ruining/mangling/corrupting (take your pick) their language.” You complain about that a lot.

By the way, when you were still in the US Navy, were you ever accused of “going native”? Of being too close to Korea?

32 gbevers June 7, 2012 at 11:34 pm
Hamel uttered (#31):

Errrm. If Robert’s search machine on this blog was functional, I’d go back and pull out some threads just from the last 6 months in which you bitterly opined about Koreans “ruining/mangling/corrupting (take your pick) their language.” You complain about that a lot.

Yes, I do sometimes write about people misusing the Korean language, as do many Koreans. In fact, most of the time my impetus were Korean articles bemoaning the misuse of the Korean language. Were the Koreans who wrote those articles also anti-Korean?

I meant I do not belittle the Korean language; I think it is a great language.

Hamel also uttered:

By the way, when you were still in the US Navy, were you ever accused of “going native”? Of being too close to Korea?

Silly question, but “No,” I was not accused of going native.

When I was in the navy, I was recognized as being the best Korean linguist our detachment had at the time. Even though my Korean was not all that good back then, it was better than that of the other navy linguists, which was why I was assigned to be their training petty officer.

My Korean was good enough to talk with the girls in the Ville, so my shipmates would often ask me to interpret for them, but no one ever accused me of going native.

33 Q June 8, 2012 at 5:39 am
gbevers wrote:

To prevent the spead of venereal disease was also one of the reasons the Japanese gave for setting up their comfort woman system. They also did it to help prevent rape.

So you mean, to prevent VD and rape, this had to happen:

Twelve soldiers raped me in quick succession, after which I was given half an hour rest. Then twelve more soldiers followed. … I bled so much and was in such pain, I could not even stand up. … I felt much pain, and my vagina was swollen. … Every day, from two in the afternoon to ten in the evening, the soldiers lined up outside my room and the rooms of the six other women there. I did not even have time to wash after each assault. At the end of the day, I just closed my eyes and cried (p. 1).

By equating US military with Japanese military, you imply that US military did the similar crimes to women at post-war comfort stations in Korea. Were such a horrible incidences common when you were ‘honorably’ serving/frequenting comfort stations in the US Navy? Had US military raped and killed so many civilians like Japanese military did?

34 gbevers June 8, 2012 at 7:03 am
#33,

In August 1944, the US military captured twenty Korean comfort women in Burma. In October 1944 the women were interrogated. Here are some of the comments from the US military report, where the testimonies of the women were not influenced by any anti-Japanese activists:

* They lived in near-luxury in Burma in comparison to other places. This was especially true of their second year in Burma. They lived well because their food and material was not heavily rationed and they had plenty of money with which to purchase desired articles. They were able to buy cloth, shoes, cigarettes, and cosmetics to supplement the many gifts given to them by soldiers who had received “comfort bags” from home.

While in Burma they amused themselves by participating in sports events with both officers and men, and attended picnics, entertainments, and social dinners. They had a phonograph and in the towns they were allowed to go shopping.

* The conditions under which they transacted business were regulated by the Army, and in congested areas regulations were strictly enforced. The Army found it necessary in congested areas to install a system of prices, priorities, and schedules for the various units operating in a particular areas.

* The soldiers often complained about congestion in the houses. In many situations they were not served and had to leave as the army was very strict about overstaying. In order to overcome this problem the Army set aside certain days for certain units. Usually two men from the unit for the day were stationed at the house to identify soldiers. A roving MP was also on hand to keep order.

* The girls were allowed the prerogative of refusing a customer. This was often done if the person were too drunk.

* In the latter part of 1943 the Army issued orders that certain girls who had paid their debt could return home. Some of the girls were thus allowed to return to Korea.

* The interrogations further show that the health of these girls was good. They were well supplied with all types of contraceptives, and often soldiers would bring their own which had been supplied by the army. They were well trained in looking after both themselves and customers in the matter of hygiene. A regular Japanese Army doctor visited the houses once a week and any girl found diseased was given treatment, secluded, and eventually sent to a hospital.

* The average Japanese soldier is embarrassed about being seen in a “comfort house” according to one of the girls who said, “when the place is packed he is apt to be ashamed if he has to wait in line for his turn”. However there were numerous instances of proposals of marriage and in certain cases marriages actually took place.

LINK

35 gbevers June 8, 2012 at 7:04 am
#33

My comment is awaiting moderation, Q.

36 jkitchstk June 8, 2012 at 8:55 am
#22,
“Don’t they say that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession?”

Yes, but how can divorced Korean fathers afford to use prostitutes? Because 87 % of them are Deadbeat Dads/게으름 뱅이 아빠.
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2012/06/123_112286.html
“Another problem is the lax control on divorcees, as records show that only 13 percent of divorce parents fulfill childcare payment duties to their former spouse who raises their children.”

37 commander June 8, 2012 at 11:13 am
#33 beavers – I get it, life as a comfort woman for the Japanese Imperial Army was one long romantic romp in the gentle tropics with blushing Japanese soldiers.

Each comfort station was tightly controlled by the regional military headquarters, even if it was owned and run by a private proprietor. [...] Different days of each week were designated as off-duty days for different units of the force. Therefore, there was hardly a respite for comfort women. Most comfort stations were closed only one day a month, giving one break a month for comfort women. [...] Each comfort woman served several men — up to 10 — on a normal day, but the number would sharply increase shortly before and after each combat operation. On such days, each woman was forced to serve 30 or 40 men a day. The available time for each man was regulated to 30 minutes. However, in the busy periods each solider was allowed only a few minutes. The following extract from the testimony of Nishihira Junichi vividly describes a day during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. Nishihira was a 13-year-old boy, who was drafted as a factotum at one of the comfort stations on the main island of Okinawa:

Shouting “Come on, hurry up!” their eyes were bloodshot and their legs shook as they waited impatiently. Some even began to undo their belts and their bodies shook, even though there were many ahead of them in the queue.

Most soldiers finished within twenty or thirty seconds and came out one after another in a infatuated state which greatly contrasted their behaviors while waiting. Some, however, took five minutes or more, although if they took too long a veteran soldier who acted as a supervisor would grab the offending soldier by the scruff of the neck and drag him out of the room. (Testimny of Nishihira Junich cited by Fukuchi Hiroaki in his book Okinawa-sen no Onna-tachi: Chosen-jin Jugun Ianfu, Kaifu-sha, Naha, 1922, p.73)

In such circumstances, there was no time for comfort women to follow the regulation that they should “wash their private parts each time.” There is no doubt that such extreme sexual abuse caused considerable physical pain and health problems to many of the comfort women.

I have hundreds more pages to quote as gbever goes along. You could buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Japans-Comfort-Women-Asias-Transformations/dp/0415194016

39 sanshinseon June 8, 2012 at 1:48 pm
I’m totally with Elgin in #28; thanks to him for writing that so i don’t have to. I have argued that to Koreans many times…

40 bibimbong June 8, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I have hundreds more pages to quote as gbever goes along.

why am i not surprised?

41 gbevers June 8, 2012 at 2:11 pm
Commander wrote (#37):

#33 beavers – I get it, life as a comfort woman for the Japanese Imperial Army was one long romantic romp in the gentle tropics with blushing Japanese soldiers.

No, but it was also not all about torture and rape, which is what many Koreans and others what people to believe.

The October 1944 interogation report is just one look at what life was like for twenty Korean comfort women, uncontaminated by time, present-day moralilty, and anti-Japanese propaganda. Morever, the interogations and the report were done by Japan’s enemy at the time, which tells us that it was not sugarcoated. That is what makes it so compelling.

The problem with present-day testimonies is that many are very likely contaminated by time, present-day morality, years and years of anti-Japanese propaganda, and people with an agenda. That does not mean there were not abuses in the Japanese comfort woman system, but the report to which I linked above shows that it was not all about torture and rape.

42 Wedge June 8, 2012 at 4:15 pm
On this event at the top, does anyone know more about it? Seriously, the description could be a tad more, say, descriptive. Is it a man-hating dykefest or a serious historical discussion?

43 CactusMcHarris June 8, 2012 at 5:16 pm
‘it was not all about torture and rape’

Yes, and Aushwitz wasn’t all about death showers, was it? Gerry, here’s the thing – why do you think you’re the arbiter of truth here? The Japanese had no problem abusing the Korean people in any number of ways, as you well know. To compare it with what’s happened with the complicit agreement of the USFK / Korean government is to miss the point, one of many it is said – the comfort women during WWII served the GEACS, the ladies in Anjongni and many other places brought in a lot of US dollars, helping Korea be what it is today. That’s just the pure economics of it, no? Ms. Yuna, I think, has different issues with your take on things. I grant you, things were sometimes not as bad, perhaps, as the Koreans have claimed – as has been noted, PCH, among many others, got to where he did partially through the Nipponese. Can’t you let it go and focus on Dokdo – it needs you more than the ladies do. You seem awfully cold-blooded to conflate it with any other wartime atrocities, in either war or armistice. I’m not going to call you any more names, as my kiss-ass self wants to learn more Urimal from you. However, you’ll have to improve your opinion of my user name – perhaps if I got some Hanja for it you’d like it more?

44 Hamilton June 8, 2012 at 5:21 pm
#31 Hammel,

US Military Korean linguists (non-ethnic) tend not to go native. Many marry Korean women but you would be hard pressed to find one who isn’t fully in the US Camp unlike Middle eastern languages or even Japanese specialists.

I’m not sure why. They all really like living in Korea, the language and usually are addicted to the food.

45 Q June 8, 2012 at 8:57 pm
White girls seemed to have had rough time in Java. If following gbevers rhetoric, the sex mo*key Japanese soldiers could suddenly turn into courteous men at ‘comfort stations.’ Yuki Tanaka’s research “Japan’s Comfort Women (Asia’s Transformations)” has this:

Japanese troops seem ot have committed sexual violence against Dutch women at various places in the Dutch East Indies immediately after the invasion. For. Example, when they entered Tjepoc, the main old centre of central Java, “women were repeatedly raped, with the approval of the [Japanese] commanding officer.” The following are some extracts from the testimony on this case given by a Dutch woman after the war, which was subsequently presented at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal as one of numerous pieces of evidence of war crimes that the Japanese troops committed against Allied civilians:

On that Thursday, 5 March 1942, we remained in a large room all together. The Japanese then appeared mad and wild. That night the father-in-law and mother-in-law of Salzamann… were taken away from us and fearfully maltreated. Their two daughters too, of about 15 and 16 had to go with them and were maltreated. The father and mother returned the same night, fearfully upset, the girls only returned on Friday morning, and had been raped by the Japanese.

On Saturday afternoon, March 7, 1942, the Japanese soldiers (old soldiers) had appeared in the emergency hospital where the women and children were seated together. The ladies were here raped by the Japanese, in which connection it should be mentioned that this happened where the children were not present. These ladies were myself, Mrs. Bernasco, Mrs. Mebus, Mrs. Dietzel, Mrs. De Graaf, Mrs. Van Bakerghem, Mrs. Verbeek, Mrs. Warella.

This occurred from March 7 to 17, 1942; generally the Japs came at night, but by way of exception, also during day. It was a mass, continuous merciless rape. The first afternoon that this happened, as mentioned, three enlisted men came, and everything took place under threat. After this happened, we managed to tell the Chinese doctor Liem. He went to the Commandant, whereupon that afternoon, Mrs. Dietzel, myself and one or two others had to appear before the Commandant. The Commandant said that we would be given an opportunity to point out the Japs who had misconducted themselves, and that they would be shot dead before our very eyes. However, nothing happened and after an hour we were sent back to the emergency hospital. That evening, at 8 o’clock, we were transferred to a classroom in a school near by. According to what we were told, this was done for our own safety, since the Japs would not come there.

Between 10 and 12 o’clock, that night, when we were all asleep, a whole mass of Japanese soldiers entered with the above-mentioned commandant at the head. The Commandant sat on a table in our classroom and then watched how each of the women was dragged away, one by one, to be raped. He himself did not join in this.

46 Tim at nandupress June 8, 2012 at 10:14 pm
When academics have nothing else to do they bash the US, and the military specifically. I read Na Young Lee’s Dissertation, The Construction of U.S.Camptown Prostitution in South Korea…and the first third of the work doesn’t even examine the issue, it spends itself detailing feminist’s methodology with chapter heading – Theorization of Gendered Nationalism, Androcentric Conceptualization, and Post-Colonial Feminist Theories on Otherization. Interested too, in this subject, Seasons in the Kingdom, novel, I tried to contact her before she left for Korea. Lee obviously wanted nothing to do with someone outside her intellectual circle that might challenge or provide a different perspective on this subject.
Prostitution is a serious problem in Korea, and the US impact on that world has its own history, and not one we can be especially proud. Academics also prey on these women, and for their own reasons, abusing them with the pretense of their study, but really only using them for their own advancement…….

47 gbevers June 9, 2012 at 10:03 am
Cactus McHarris wrote (#43):

Yes, and Aushwitz wasn’t all about death showers, was it?

You are showing your ignorance again, Cactus.

Cactus wrote:

The Japanese had no problem abusing the Korean people in any number of ways, as you well know. To compare it with what’s happened with the complicit agreement of the USFK / Korean government is to miss the point, one of many it is said – the comfort women during WWII served the GEACS, the ladies in Anjongni and many other places brought in a lot of US dollars, helping Korea be what it is today. That’s just the pure economics of it, no?

I think you know next to nothing about the colonial period, Cactus, and are, therefore, not qualified to compare anything. I have heard and read that Koreans were treated as second-class citizens during Korea’s colonial period, but what does that mean? I have also heard from some Koreans that the colonial period was not as bad as many Koreans claim. Therefore, I want to study the history myself, even though I am not from Missouri.

You claim that Korean women prostituted themselves to Americans for economic reasons, but seem to deny that could have been the case in regard to Korean women during Korea’s colonial period. Why would you not think there was no economic impetus during the colonial period as well?

Cactus wrote:

Can’t you let it go and focus on Dokdo – it needs you more than the ladies do.

You seem to be afraid to learn more about Korea’s colonial period. Why? Is it too much trouble to rearrange your mindset? Are you afraid that you may learn that Korean women and the Korean men who took advantage of them were not as innocent as you want to believe?

Cactus wrote:

I’m not going to call you any more names, as my kiss-ass self wants to learn more Urimal from you.

Okay, then read the following description of the Korean city of Cheongjin from a May 11, 1925 Donga Ilbo article and compare it to the Korea. That should help you with Geudeulwuimal.

Local Color

If you walk down a Korean street in this city, the first thing you notice after one or two houses are signs that say “Boarding House,” “Restaurant,” and “Pawn Shop.” And in every alley you see places with such names as “Seoul House” and “Daegu House” that sell rice wine. You also see many prostitutes in heavy makeup going in and out the doors. However, rather than seeing these establishments as promoting immorality, I see them as places that necessarily exist to provide natural, temporary relief to an increasingly large number of laborers.

Speaking of prostitutes, scores of Korean and Japanese whorehouses fill Bukseong-jeong (part of the port city of Cheongjin in Northern Hamgyeong Province ) and have become the town’s specialty product. Whenever military ships, which allow no women onboard, enter the port, it is said that dozens and dozens of sailors race ashore, completely turning the port into a “City of Flesh.” Even when there are no military ships in port, it is said that the streets are bustling with nightlife as sailors are always coming and going.

Most of the buildings along the street are Japanese style. Many of the people on the streets wear Western suits. Hundreds of people leave and enter the city each day. Even many of the locals seem to be wearing Western suits. You hear auctioneers shouting, “five cheon, ten cheon,” and you also hear, “Let’s play, let’s play.” You hear, “The Social system is blah, blah, blah,” and you also hear, “Amen.” All parts of the new and old worlds are represented on the streets of this city.

When the girls were informed about the real nature of the work, it was quite natural for them to refuse to work as comfort women. Some demanded that the comfort station manager send them back home as the job they had been promised was found to be false. Typically the manager would inform them that the large advance payment made to their parents had to be paid back before they would be sent back home. Even where no advance payment had been made, the manager would demand repayment of the cost of transporting them from their home to the locality of the comfort stations, the cost of daily meals and clothes, plus interest on those costs. When they realized that they were trapped by this sort of “indentured system,” it was too late to reverse the situation.

Yet some still tried to refuse being made sexual slaves. Their resistance was met by force, often by torture, in order to get their consent, and some were maimed or killed. Yi Yongsu was one of such woman who experienced extreme brutality as the result of initial refusal. The following is an excerpt from her testimony:

The man who had accompanies us from Teagu turned out to be the proprietor of the comfort station we were taken to. We called him Oyaji [i.e. boss or master]. I was the youngest among us. Punsun was a year older than me and the others were 18, 19, and 20. The proprietor told me to go into a certain room, but I refused. He dragged me by my hair to another room. There I was tortured with electric shocks. He was very cruel. He pulled out the telephone cord and tied my wrists and ankles with it. Then, shouting “konoyaro!” [i.e “You rascal”] he twirled the telephone receiver. Light flashed before my eyes, and my body shook all over. I couldn’t stand it and begged him to stop. I said I would do anything he asked. But he turned the receiver once more. I blacked out. When I came round my body was wet; I think that he had probably poured water on me.

For more readings, you could purchase the book: http://www.amazon.com/Japans-Comfort-Women-Asias-Transformations/dp/0415194016

49 Q June 9, 2012 at 11:27 am
Yuki Tanaka’s research “Japan’s Comfort Women (Asia’s Transformations)” explain why most of comfort women were not from Japan:

Of the women, 80 percent are believed to have been Koreans, but many also came from Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Why were comfort women almost invariably from Taiwan, China, or various places in Southeast Asia, and above all Korea? This might seem odd at first, given that the Japanese were notorious for their racism towards the people of other Asian countries. However, racial prejudice provides part of the answer to the question – that very racism helped make these women suitable for the role of comfort women. Japanese prostitutes did serve the military abroad during the war, but most were in a different position from the comfort women. The Japanese prostitutes mainly worked in comfort stations that served high-ranking officers, and they experienced better conditions than the Asian comfort women. Apart from the difficulty in recruiting Japanese women into comfort stations, Japanese military leaders did not believe Japanese women should be in that role. Their mission was to bear and bring up good Japanese children, who would grow up to be loyal subjects of the Emperor rather than being the means for men to satisfy their sexual urges. The Japanese wartime government took its lead from Nazi eugenic ideology and policy in these matters. In 1940 the National Eugenic Law was proclaimed. The purposes of the law were to prevent miscegenation and the reproduction of the “unfit,” such as those with mental illness that was believed to be inherited.

According to widely held Japanese views at the time, a supreme virtue for a woman was to serve her husband from the time of her marriage until the end of her life. During the war, the Ministry of Health actually recommended that war widows remain loyal to their deceased husbands by not marrying, unless they were less than 36 years old. In 1943, when Professor Kaneko Takanosuke from the Tokyo College of Commerce argued in a popular womna’s magazine, Fujin Koron, that all war widows should be encouraged to remarry, the military authorities demanded that the published issue a public apology. In addition, the government-regulated distribution of paper to this published was considerably reduced for the rest of the war period. So hypocritical was the Japanese military leaders’ attitude that on the on hand they strongly demanded that Japanese women be chaste, while on the other they did not hesitate to preside over the extreme sexual exploitation of other Asian women.

Korean and Taiwanese women were particularly targeted as sourced of comfort women, only because of the political and economic environment of these countries as Japan’s colonies in which young women were easily procures, but also in light of their cultural proximity to Japan. Japanese language was compulsory in Korea and Taiwan, and people in these countries were heavily indoctrinated in loyalty to the Emperor and respect for Japan as their suzerain state. Physical similarity between Japanese and Korean or Taiwanese also may have been a factor favoring procurement of women there.

In this was, Japanese forces exploited large number of Asian women under the excuse of preventing rape and VD. It must be concluded, however, that provision of comfort women did not function as an effective measure for either problem, and in particular for the problem of random sexual violence against civilians in occupied territories. Despite such official justifications for the program, it should not be forgotten that the women involved in the comfort women system were themselves victims of systematic, institutional rape and sexual slavery.